SENATE SENDS MARIJUANA BILL TO HOUSE

MONTPELIER -- A bill that would end jail terms for first- and
second-time offenders caught with small amounts of marijuana won
final approval in the state Senate on Thursday.

Senate action on the marijuana bill came after members rejected an
amendment offered by Sen. George Coppenrath, R-Caledonia, that would
have given state's attorneys the option of charging those caught
with an ounce or less with a crime or sending them to a
court diversion program through which they would not have
a criminal record. Instead the bill leaves the decision of whether
to accept diversion up to the defendant.

The measure goes to the House, where the chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, Rep. William Lippert, D-Hinesburg, said Thursday he
hadn't read it and couldn't predict its fate.